Live At The Jazz Showcase by Danilo Perez Trio

Caught live at the historic Chicago venue "The Jazz Showcase," powerhouse pianist Danilo Perez and his trio must have left the audience with a sense of wonderment. A truly exhilarating exposition indeed, as the trio seemingly intertwines almost every conceivable Latin groove into the jazz idiom. Perez, bassist Ben Street and drummer Adam Cruz elevate modern day piano trio fare to newer levels of excitement here. They seamlessly navigate through knotty time signatures with grace and ease, amid Perez’ occasional implementations of heavy-handed block chords. It’s partly about impact and strength enjoying a happy-medium with sensitivity and warmth.

The rhythm section adds vigor and pizzazz in support of Perez’ darting chord progressions to complement movements brimming with climatically oriented unison runs. On Monk’s "We See," Perez generates a loose groove effect by playing with the primary melody amid spacious voicings. Elsewhere, the pianist and Street engage in contrapuntal statements. And they lighten the overall tone in spots, namely on the ballad titled "Rabo De Nube," where Perez opts for a softer touch, shaded with a discrete edge.

The band explores various nooks and crannies during straight swing vamps as Perez frequently ups the ante with his highly rhythmic approach to the keys. Highlights are in abundance throughout the preponderance of this outing, especially when the band journeys into the purer Latin-jazz groove. More often than not the group goes for the jugular via a sensible means of conveying a storyline, often by gravitating towards blistering crescendos. Nevertheless, this recently issued gem should find its way on quite a few top-ten lists for 2005. (Exuberantly recommended.... )